I have a Toro Powermax and about the end of the season (which I thought was a month ago, but we got 11 inches a couple days ago) it was not moving smoothly and I realized the skid shoes were worn down to nothing. I think I just flip them over, so I don't need to buy anything now. This is only the second year with this snowblower.

But I had almost the same snowblower when I was married and I had it for 10 years and never had to replace the shoes. My driveway was asphalt paved in both situations. Granted my driveway now is double the size and has a tricky hump where it meets the street as we are on a hill.

Anyhow, curious what other people have seen on the lenghth life for the skid shoes. I see they sell poly skid shoes, which I may buy next time. The iron ones rust and leave marks on the driveway.

That seems excessive. How big a blower is it? Lot of weight on the skids?

I'd definitely go with poly. T'was me, I'd add replaceable poly blocks to the existing skids now that you've flipped them over. Then just replace the poly as needed. You can buy sheets of poly pretty reasonably and cut your own.

It's a Toro 928. It's a heavy machine and I definitely think the hump at the end of my driveway needs to be avoided. I tore up the scraper on it also, and the auger blades are scraped as well.

You can see the slope I'm dealing with in the pics. The hump at the end of the driveway isn't that visible in the pic, but it is a big hump to keep water on the street rather than running down and icing my driveway.

Gee, I don't miss Mass at all.

Bob

That wear IS excessive! I have a Simplicity Pro Series P1732E and mine were worn/flipped over after at approx. 10 years, maybe more.

That said, your Skid Shoes and/or Scraper Bar on your machine look like they're NOT adjusted properly! Your Snow Blower appears to be resting (possibly dragging?) on the Auger Housing, and the Skid Shoes look like they're on the lowest setting/highest adjustment position. This will likely cause uneven and/or undesirable wear, and should be corrected.

My method of adjustment is as follows:

- Ensure Scraper Bar is adjusted so it's parallel to the garage floor.
- Stack two quarters under each end of the Scraper Bar to achieve approx. 1/8" gap/height from floor.
- Loosen Skid Shoe nuts so they drop to the floor and then tighten to proper torque.

Skid plates are relatively cheap.

I have never worn out a set - but the rust issue gets a bit annoying so I may thrown on some poly shoes next winter.

It's definitely not adjusted properly right now. I somehow missed the wear before the snow storm a few days ago. I just knew that it was dragging and something wasn't right at the end of the season.

With the storm the other day I noticed this and quickly adjusted so the auger wouldn't be scraping the ground. I didn't take a lot of time with it. I will set it up properly now.

I’ve yet to wear out the ones on my Ariens - maybe 20 years old. I have had to replace the scraper bar and auger bearings though.

I've never had to replace a pair of skids.

This was my lucky year. got to replace my Moms after 11 years and replaced mine after 12 years.
Used to clear a double wide 75 foot asphalt driveway.
Don't sweat it, they are wear items and cheap/easy to replace.

PS: Poly wears MUCH faster than steel. They are really meant for decorative surfaces such as paving blocks.

I just cleaned the machine up for summer storage and I have to say, after 2 years, this is not the quality of my last Toro. This thing has rust spots forming all over the place. Small spots, but in many spots. It's kind of a bummer. I'm really wondering what the skids are made of because everyone seems to have had the same past experience as me, 10 years and more. I won't be going back to Toro after this.

Are you parking it with the skids directly on concrete? If so, get a block of wood and elevate it to make sure no metal is touching the concrete.

My 1st set of tractor-mounted snowblower skids rusted out within 3 months. Since I've been using a wood block to elevate it when not in use, the 2nd set is now on its second year.

I don't know if it's the salts in the concrete or what, but I block any metal from touching the concrete now.

If you want to step up from what the OEM provides have a gander at http://snowblowerskids.com/. Their skid design uses thicker metal, the runner is wider and longer, also skids can be had in extended versions. Very well made in the U.S.

I bought a Cub Cadet garden tractor last year with a 42" snow blower attachment. I have 900' of straight gravel driveway and another 700' section going back to our propane tank to deal with. The OEM skids were narrow enough that I knew they would dig into the gravel so I bought these. They worked quite nice this winter.

If nothing else they should last much longer than your present ones and perhaps deal with the driveway irregularities better.